Investigation of particle segregation in a metal hydride packed bed by extracting particle size distribution from a three-dimensional image

Particle size distribution in a metal hydride packed bed was acquired from three-dimensional X-ray computed tomographic images, using an image recognition method to quantitatively evaluate particle size segregation in the bed. The image recognition method was constructed by combining the original seed-generating method with other methods (e.g., the watershed method). The image recognition method was first applied to glass bead packed beds. The results indicated that the method adequately estimated the particle size distribution of the packed bed from three-dimensional images. After this validation, the method was applied to metal hydride packed beds. The results corresponded with observation results obtained by previous study. These results confirm that the image acquisition method could be used to quantify particle size segregation.